Go to Tibet 
Ride a camel. 
Dye your shoes blue. 
Grow a beard. 
Circle the world in a paper canoe. 
Subscribe to The Saturday Evening Post. 
Chew on the left side of your mouth only. 
Marry a woman with one leg and shave with a straight razor. 
And carve her name in her arm. 

Brush your teeth with gasoline. 
Sleep all day and climb trees at night. 
Hold your head under water and play the violin. 
Do a belly dance before pink candles. 
Kill your dog. 
Run for mayor. 
Live in a barrel. 
Break your head with a hatchet. 
Plant tulips in the rain. 

But don’t write poetry. 


Charles Bukowski

via flannelapparel